#most ex-mil's tend to support him

[warsofasoiaf]

What do you think about the new Secretary of Defense James Mattis?

I like him, but I admit that I’m biased. Mattis is an intellectual military theorist, and so am I. He believes that the soldier should be educated on the nature of war and the culture of the land they happen to be in, and I agree. His views on foreign threats match much of my own, especially his commitment to America’s NATO allies, as well as Japan, South Korea, and Australia. In an increasingly global world, and with a far more assertive China and Russia, I’m of the belief that we need to clasp hands with our strategic partners around the globe.

There are good things about this. Mattis is a soldier’s general, and this could go a long way to fixing a problem that a lot of the enlisted guys are seeing, with those inside the Beltway concerned more about their careers than the soldiers outside it. That was on my fellow soldiers’ minds and can help raise morale. DoD could use a new head at the helm to bring new ideas applied more at the field-level than in theorycraft.

I know the big thing on a lot of left-leaning minds is that Trump seems to listen to Mattis and can get him to backpedal, and thus he can act as the voice of reason to Trump. I don’t know how that will translate into more operational concerns or in moments of crisis. The optimistic part of me has faith in General Mattis to handle concerns rationally and present the soundest possible path in such a fashion that Trump will take the sober path, the pessimistic part of me says that even if he does it perfectly, that might not matter.

Now, the elephant in the room is that he is a hawk, and Trump is quite bellicose. Aside from the obvious concerns about proxy wars, there’s a concern that even if he’s a great choice to help reshape the DoD to handling the threats of the modern day, he might not be the best choice in an aggressive administration, rather instead a more moderate voice might be called for as SECDEF. I personally don’t agree, I think a SECDEF is naturally going to be one of the more hawkish members of the Cabinet, and State is the sobering counterbalance. I also think Mattis understands the price of a combat posture on the cerebral level, so I don’t think he’d be reckless even if pressure came from the White House for forceful responses. But it is a more aggressive posture, even when compared to Ash Carter, and State will have a tough time of it.

The big challenge for Mattis at the personal level would be to adopt his ideas to a role that is quite different from being a theater commander, even for a command as large as CENTCOM. There’s no guarantee that Mattis’s successes would necessarily translate into success at the Cabinet-level. Unfortunately, there’s no real way to predict that, so I’ll just have to wish him the best and give him any support I can.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[shnuggletea]

2019 Fanfiction Year in Review

Tagged by the ever so lovely @moonlightusa here is my response to this assignment you gave me. I seriously had flashbacks to high school with this lol!

1. List of fics completed this year:

Okay seriously, I’ve done too much this past year in writing I guess. Here it is in order.

Poisoned Mind

Arranged Love

MamoUsaWeek2019: It’s Her Eyes, Now What?, Benched, Poppin, Jivin, Never Endin

Benefits Gone Wrong (co-authored with @darkenedhrt101)

Seven Month Itch

Vegas Baby!

Urban Legends: Bunny Man

Haunted Embrace (Gift Exchange 2019)

How Water Shapes the Earth (HaruMich Fluff Fest)

Whew I’m winded from writing down that list.

2. Number of words written:

This year for fanfiction...good god. Got to get out the calculator hold on a minute...oh jeez. I don’t know if I should share this, it’s a bit embarrassing. Okay so not including works I started last year and haven’t quite finished I’m at 551,899 words. So that means I probably wrote close to a million words last year since that doesn’t include the originals that I worked on/finished. Hamduallah I still have my fingers.

3. Your most popular fic this year:

I don’t really think any of my fics are ‘popular’ to be honest. The one that was more popular than I expected was Vegas Baby. I’m not sure what equates popularity, some go by review or follow/fave numbers. For me, it’s a combination. The type of reviews and what they say plus the number of follow/faves. That one took me by surprise how many really liked it.

4. Your personal favorite this year:

Man, that’s like asking me to pick my favorite child. Not that I put my writing at that level, I love my kid waaaaay more. Not sure how to decide a favorite among them though!! I guess I’d have to say Haunted Embrace. It was fun and also in the Sil Mil with is a fave of mine to write about. Although, it may not seem that way since I have 0 other than it set in that arch currently lol.

5. Your favourite scene:

Omg, you’re killing me smalls. Sigh. This is another tough one, I have a lot of faves. Okay in my work, the first one that comes to mind is from Enchanted when Serenity tells Mamoru goodbye before he heads off to war. Her innocence in giving him a lock of hair and how he treasures it from that point on just hits me in the feels. 

From other’s works, Blind Faith by @angelmoongirl when Mamoru shows up to give Usagi her first lesson without her sight and she rips into him about his parents. Oh man, tears. Because she is hurting and you know she doesn’t mean it or understand and he just responds back just as cold. Heartbreaking in the best way. My Ex, Your Crush by @darkenedhrt101 when Mamoru tells Usagi it’s not a game to him, not anymore and she tells him she feels the same way?? Pretty sure my eyes turned into those annoying hearts and stayed that way for a damn hour. Thanks. Her Eyes by @goligolak when we get a little jelly Mamoru? Why do we like that? What is it about a possessive side showing from a normally cool and calm man that just makes our engines revving? Mmmmm. Royal Affairs by @master-ray5 I can’t say what my favorite scene is because it’s a spoiler. But just know, I love it when the author misdirects you only to twist you back around at the end. You’re mad but not for long. A true “oh you little bugger” moment. Divinity Series by @nebelflecke when Gaia shows her powers to the Prince of Earth? God, she is such a badass I LOVE IT! There are scenes that I love from @sailormoonserenity489 as well but they aren’t published yet. The scene inside the bookstore for the nightmare fic you’re working on? So dark and beautiful, I love it. I can smell the dust from the books when I read it. Those are the scenes written THIS YEAR that I loved save for @nebelflecke because she has written for that fic this year but I’m so behind on the series, I haven’t gotten to it yet.

6. A fic or scene that challenged you?

The scene in Poisoned Mind where Mamoru finds Usagi dead. It killed me to hurt him like that and I had to dig a little inside myself and my own sorrow from death to get it right. That was rough. I had to step away for a few days after I got it all down. I wrote to where he brings her back before I stopped so I could sleep at night though.

7. A line of writing you’re proud of?

“It was an accident. I lost my parents and my memories of them. So...in truth, I lost them completely. The most you can lose a person, their death in your reality and in your imagination." "Like with us." His face changed into what she could only guess was confusion, having never seen the look on his face towards her before. "Huh?" "We died and forgot. Twice." There were hands on her, pulling her and she met something hard...and soft at the same time. Mamoru was holding her, tight. With his arms around hers, she couldn't move them, to hold him in return or push him away. He wasn't giving her a choice in this.

-Now What? 

I know the whole ‘story’ of Mamoru’s sad past has been done many times over. But the reason I’m proud of this scene is that it wasn’t intentional. I was just writing what made sense with the flow of the scene and their relationship. Just by doing that, it inspired fanart. I never expected that and it was the first time someone took my words and made it into a visual. A very pretty visual by @iamcharlotte that is also the cover art for the fic. 

8.  A comment that touched you:

I wouldn’t say this one touched me because that would be a little creepy but it still makes me laugh when I so much as think about it. And a little proud of myself too if I’m being honest. 

“Boy, you ruin my undies. This was really good.”

This wasn’t posted by a guest but in case they don’t want their name and ruined undies broadcasted on Tumblr, I’m not including the name of the reviewer lol. This is no way means I didn’t love or feel touched by any of my other reviews. You guys are awesome. Thank you for the love.

9. Something that inspired your writing this year:

Music. Always, always music. And reading. Really I can’t read or watch something without getting inspired. It’s why I don’t do a whole lot of either unless forced (aka hubby wants to watch something with me). Even my kid’s shows tend to have scenes for stories running through my brain. It’s nice except I worry I’ll still have things ‘to write’ left untouched when I die.

10. Your proudest accomplishment (that one scene; finally finishing that one fic; posting your first fic; etc)

I’d have to say my first fully completed challenge. MamoUsaWeek this year really tested me because I stupidly thought it started a week later than it did. There was no prep or time to write beforehand, everything was written the day of. Which explains a lot I’m sure lol. But I still got them done and I’m really proud of that.

11. Do you have any writing goals for the next year?

Oh god. YES! I have fics to finish and start posting (seriously posting is the WORST part in my book. I’d have someone else do it for me if I could.) And then fics I need to finish before I can post them. I plan to get my manuscript out to some publishers and see if that goes anywhere and if it doesn’t, self publish again. And I need to finish my other originals, like yesterday, and start querying publishers. Also, I started writing Inuyasha fanfics so once they are betaed, we’ll see how life is outside the SM fandom. 

I guess it’s a bit clique and overdone but honestly out of everything I’m proud of the fandom as a whole. My year here has been one of surprise, failure, and celebration. There were moments when we all pulled together and showed our strength as a group and times things fell flat. But all in all, I’m so happy with where I am in the fandom and thankful for all of you that follow me here or on ff. Thank you to everyone that has shown your support however you could.

Alright, this was fun but a bear. So I’m tagging all my betas and must-read writers for this one. You must all complete this report as I did!!! @darkenedhrt101 @master-ray5 @nebelflecke @angelmoongirl @sailormoonserenity489 @goligolak @knowall7k @beautymercurydragon good luck to you my friends!